The Van-Far boys are still getting into shape.

Van-Far vs Paris Photo Gallery

The Indians improved to 5-0 after a 62-42 win at Paris on Tuesday night as the team transitions from football to basketball season. Except for an 18-point Paris fourth quarter, Van-Far held the Coyotes to single digits in every quarter. 

Van-Far head coach Pat Connaway said Van-Far has felt “under the weather” recently on top of its roster full of football players still needing conditioning for basketball season.

“We gave up middle a lot early, but then we made some adjustments,” Connaway said. “They did better. We forced some tough shots, and we did rebound well.”

Pacey Reading led Van-Far with 21 points and nine rebounds, and Evan Utterback added 15 points and four rebounds. Bryce Reading had 11 points off the bench. 

Connaway said the Indians were more aggressive than they were in their 54-44 overtime victory at Sturgeon the previous night. Gaven Gaston scored all five of his points in the first quarter but as a result of him forcing the ball to the rim, and he facilitated most of the night with five assists. While Connaway said Van-Far has been “passing around” sickness as of late, the Indians did better late in the game passing the ball.

“We saw the open guy, and we started attacking and getting downhill better, making the extra pass,” Connaway said. “We stood too much in the first half. Last night at Sturgeon, they dared us to shoot the ball, other than Pacey, and we were hesitant.”

Paris head coach Jeremy Skinner said the Coyotes (0-4) are adjusting after a late district runner-up football season, only having the full team for two practices so far. That matched up with four games will lead to the offense being stagnant at times. 

Facing Van-Far also didn’t work in the Coyotes’ favor, Skinner said, as he made a change to the starting lineup to counter Van-Far’s bigger size and physicality. Brady Shivers started over Landen Chapman, who led Paris with 10 points and four steals off the bench while Cayden Poddany had eight points. 

“They’re a big, physical team,” Skinner said. “That doesn’t bode well for us with that size advantage that they have. They’re a good defensive team, and we haven’t had much time to work on our offense so it’s pretty sloppy still.”

Skinner said he is looking for this Coyotes team to compensate for its undersized roster with effort and quickness. Paris needs to “value possessions and box out.”

The first four losses for Paris have had a common thread of the Coyotes being on the downside of a big run. Van-Far started Tuesday’s game with an 11-0 run but eventually took a 49-24 lead following Paris being outscored 20-8 in the third quarter.

“There’s been a big run at some point in the game where that was the story of the ballgame,” Skinner said. “For instance, we were up 20-11 on Mark Twain last Tuesday and they went on a 16-2 run in the second quarter and that was the ballgame (lost 49-46). Same thing with Atlanta (83-47) and Marion County (53-35).”

Pacey Reading had a huge third quarter with 14 points to secure a second-straight 20-point performance, following 24 points at Sturgeon. Reading had the support of his teammates as they set him up with passes and shots.

“Get a good screen and get him wide open at the top,” Connaway said. “He found himself inside the paint quite a bit off the shuffle cuts and things like that.”

Paris did turn some defense into offense in the fourth quarter and were at its highest when scoring the ball in transition off Van-Far mistakes. Chapman led with his four steals and scored eight points in the fourth quarter, not surprising Skinner with his skill.

“He’s usually a starter, but we went big because they’re so big,” Skinner said. “He’s one of our key players this year so that’s no surprise. He gets in there and works hard.”

Van-Far hosts Eastern Missouri Conference foe Louisiana (0-1) at 6 p.m. Friday while Paris plays at Columbia Independent at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Connaway said he hopes Van-Far is healthier by the Louisiana game before entering a loaded field in the Centralia Invitational next week.

“It’s good to have a 5-0 start, but we are a long ways away from where we need to be if we want to compete for a district title,” Connaway said.